tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306557.post114529856629539414..comments2016-10-31T01:14:04.309-07:00Comments on World History Blog: 1961-1963 Cuban Missile Crisis and AftermathMnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306557.post-1145308381104427832006-04-17T14:13:00.000-07:002006-04-17T14:13:00.000-07:00In the introduction to Thirteen Days (written by R...In the introduction to <I>Thirteen Days</I> (written by Robet Kennedy about the CMC), Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. wrote how he didn't understand how dangerous the CMC was, or how close nuclear war was, until a conference in Havana in 1992. He wrote that "my belief when I went to Havana was that we had overdramatized the danger." (pg. 8). But during the conference General Anatoly Gribkov talked about Soviet deployement and said that "in the event that the communications link with Moscow might be severed, Soviet field comamnders were authorized to use tactical nukes against an American invasion." (pg. 8). Schlesinger was sitting next to Robert McNamara (Sec'y of Defense during the CMC) who "almost fell out of his chair" at this news. (pg. 9) Schlesinger went on that "the American Chiefs of Staff (not McNamara, however) had been all-out for invasion. Had their advice prevailed, as McNamara later said, nuclear war would have begun on the beaches of Cuba and might have ended in a global holocaust." (pg. 9)<BR/><BR/><I>Thirteen Days</I> is definitely worth the time to read (and it is a really quick read). I have my US history students read it and write a paper on it (I actually have them write about what their thoughts/feelings/reactions would have been during the CMC after interviewing someone who remembers it). <BR/><BR/>There are a lot of great websites out there on this subject as well.Jennie Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12772493258231452230noreply@blogger.com